BB&T to Buy Assets From BankAtlantic

Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesBB&T will pay $301 million to acquire roughly $2.1 billion in loans and $3.3 billion in deposits from BankAtlantic.

BB&T agreed on Tuesday to buy the bulk of BankAtlantic in a move to expand BB&T’s footprint in the Southeast.

BB&T, based in North Carolina, will pay $301 million to acquire roughly $2.1 billion in loans and $3.3 billion in deposits from BankAtlantic, making it one of the largest recent bank mergers this year.

But the strategy echoes deals reached during the financial crisis when healthier banks acquired assets from struggling institutions.

BB&T agreed to buy only the best assets from BankAtlantic, declining to take on nonperforming and other “criticized assets,” according to a BB&T statement. That leaves BankAtlantic’s parent company, BankAtlantic Bancorp, holding $623.6 million in assets, more than half of which are troubled loans.

“This acquisition of BankAtlantic is a compelling strategic expansion into important long-term markets in Southeast Florida,” Kelly S. King, BB&T’s chairman and chief executive, said in the statement. He also highlighted that the deal “expressly excludes nonperforming and other criticized assets, as well as other risks, which satisfies our criteria with respect to risk management.”

BankAtlantic Bancorp’s chairman and chief executive, Alan B. Levan, acknowledged that the deal featured a “very unique structure.” Still, he said, “with the strength of BB&T, one of the nation’s largest financial holding companies, we are confident that BankAtlantic’s customers and employees will be served well by this transaction.”

BankAtlantic Bancorp, the bank’s parent company, will keep a range of performing and nonperforming loans as well as $18.7 million of tax certificates, a controversial business where banks buy homeowners’ tax debt.

Once the deal closes, BankAtlantic Bancorp will adopt a new name and probably sell the remaining assets over time.